TexasCHLforum.com

Bad tires can endanger the driver and others.

Was the slasher cutting all the tires... or one or two of the rear tires on the rig? Was he setting it up where the truck could still move, only for a now-overloaded tire to blow later on down the road because its brother was flat and not taking the weight? Was he hoping for a flat tire to have tread separation and throw dangerous debris on the road? Was he hoping for the flat tire to throw the tread and go through a windshield?

I've had vehicle damage from dodging "road gators." I've nearly been hit by them, in vehicles and on a motorcycle. I've had tires blow out at 65 mph. I've seen others wreck out due to tires blowing at speed.

If you're reaching past the outer tires on the back of a rig to the inner, don't you also have opportunity to cut the brake lines or damage other stuff and endanger the driver, as well as anyone else on the road when he loses control?

I'm not saying the tire slasher -should- have been shot. I am saying that, dependent on exactly how this went down, I would be -very- leery of charging the trucker with anything, or convicting were I on the jury. It's somewhat arguable that an attack on the rig's tires and braking/stopping systems (which tires are part of) can be perceived as an attempted attack on the trucker's life, or on the lives of those around him.